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A review by nervousbell
The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
3.0
(Not spoiler free, uses direct quotes.)
The cautionary notes for this book were thoughtfully included. As an individual who faced homophobia during high school and in church, reading this book transported me back to those challenging times. Despite prevalent one-star reviews primarily criticizing the exploration of cultural appropriation, I'm glad I gave this book a chance. While the treatment of the topic may be somewhat superficial, as someone of East Asian and Indigenous descent, I grasped the underlying message the main character was attempting to convey. The handling of cultural appropriation is disappointing, but I wasn’t expecting much to begin with, with how scaling some of the one of the star reviews were. I do think it wasn’t as bad as people were making out to be, it gets slightly better towards the end of the book specifically in chapter 32. Yes it was somewhat cheesy but I rather have cheesy than balant tone deafness.
Some critics targeted the main character for being perceived as "full of herself," but within the narrative, she acknowledges this flaw, particularly in her interactions with her younger sister. This relatable self-awareness resonated with me, as I, too, experienced moments of teenage self-absorption.
In Chapter 13, the character expresses regret, underlining her realization:
"How did I miss this, when I’m supposed to always protect her? I’ve been so caught up with my own drama."
Later, in Chapter 18, after a conflict with her sister, the main character has another epiphany:
"I feel like someone has punched me in the gut. I was so caught up with what happened to Flavia and the henna stuff, that I somehow completely missed what was happening with my sister."
Another quote from Chapter 18 reflects her evolving perspective:
“I’m tempted to blame Chyna and Flávia for this, too. After all, if it wasn’t for them trying to sabotage me, to distract me, to take from my culture, I would be more focused on my sister. Or I hope I would, anyway. But I know that isn’t an excuse. Priti should always be my priority.”
Then in chapter 25 there’s yet another internal monologue quote about how she was selfish and wasn’t paying attention to her family which is what was the most important thing to her.
“Priti is right. I’ve been so caught up with Flávia and the competition and everything else that I’ve forgotten to pay attention to the important things.”
She’s aware of how “full of herself” she was and apologized to her sister later on in the book. I’m convinced people didn’t read the book fully. I wouldn’t have cared if it was just one review but it was multiple and that being their one and only plight which makes zero sense to me. They made Nishat sound like a villain when there’s an actual racist in the book.
Now multiple reviews about how cultural appropriation was handled is valid and those reviews I appreciate.
While it's commendable that the character comes to this realization, the delay in taking action until 76% into the story is a drawback, albeit understandable given the character's overwhelming challenges. Despite not reaching the status of a five-star gem, I don't find this book deserving of a one-star rating. While some aspects could have been more developed, and I might not personally recommend it, honesty compels me to rate it higher than one star.
The cautionary notes for this book were thoughtfully included. As an individual who faced homophobia during high school and in church, reading this book transported me back to those challenging times. Despite prevalent one-star reviews primarily criticizing the exploration of cultural appropriation, I'm glad I gave this book a chance. While the treatment of the topic may be somewhat superficial, as someone of East Asian and Indigenous descent, I grasped the underlying message the main character was attempting to convey. The handling of cultural appropriation is disappointing, but I wasn’t expecting much to begin with, with how scaling some of the one of the star reviews were. I do think it wasn’t as bad as people were making out to be, it gets slightly better towards the end of the book specifically in chapter 32. Yes it was somewhat cheesy but I rather have cheesy than balant tone deafness.
Some critics targeted the main character for being perceived as "full of herself," but within the narrative, she acknowledges this flaw, particularly in her interactions with her younger sister. This relatable self-awareness resonated with me, as I, too, experienced moments of teenage self-absorption.
In Chapter 13, the character expresses regret, underlining her realization:
"How did I miss this, when I’m supposed to always protect her? I’ve been so caught up with my own drama."
Later, in Chapter 18, after a conflict with her sister, the main character has another epiphany:
"I feel like someone has punched me in the gut. I was so caught up with what happened to Flavia and the henna stuff, that I somehow completely missed what was happening with my sister."
Another quote from Chapter 18 reflects her evolving perspective:
“I’m tempted to blame Chyna and Flávia for this, too. After all, if it wasn’t for them trying to sabotage me, to distract me, to take from my culture, I would be more focused on my sister. Or I hope I would, anyway. But I know that isn’t an excuse. Priti should always be my priority.”
Then in chapter 25 there’s yet another internal monologue quote about how she was selfish and wasn’t paying attention to her family which is what was the most important thing to her.
“Priti is right. I’ve been so caught up with Flávia and the competition and everything else that I’ve forgotten to pay attention to the important things.”
She’s aware of how “full of herself” she was and apologized to her sister later on in the book. I’m convinced people didn’t read the book fully. I wouldn’t have cared if it was just one review but it was multiple and that being their one and only plight which makes zero sense to me. They made Nishat sound like a villain when there’s an actual racist in the book.
Now multiple reviews about how cultural appropriation was handled is valid and those reviews I appreciate.
While it's commendable that the character comes to this realization, the delay in taking action until 76% into the story is a drawback, albeit understandable given the character's overwhelming challenges. Despite not reaching the status of a five-star gem, I don't find this book deserving of a one-star rating. While some aspects could have been more developed, and I might not personally recommend it, honesty compels me to rate it higher than one star.